Saturday, April 29, 2017

It's been 100 days. It seems like so much longer, as mentally and emotional exhausted as American politics and the future of everything makes me. And so, "Our First 100 Days," a wonderful, charitable collection of 100 songs to help us endure, comes to its conclusion with a fittingly somber and woeful cover of "This Land Is Your Land" from Phosphorescent. Listen below and buy the collection here if you haven't already. It officially comes out on Monday.

Fuzzy, sprawling, sunburned psych jams are the order of the day from Japan's Kikagaku Moyo, and their recently released "Stone Garden" EP. The band traverses familiar sounds, pairing western psychedelia and eastern mysticism, but do it in an intoxicating, transcendent way, caressing ear drums and brain folds. Listen to "Nobakitani" below and get the album from Guruguru Brain.

Friday, April 28, 2017

Who would have ever thought that beneath the irreverent, goofball exterior, there laid a somber, blue heart within Mac DeMarco? New single "One More Love Song," from the artist's latest album "This Old Dog," is a wonderful ballad full of yearning and regret, and late night contemplation. Watch the video below and get the record next week from Captured Tracks.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Mathew Melton of the glammy, surfy garage rock band Warm Soda appears to be bringing that project to an end, but he has started a new one with his wife Doris called Dream Machine. And what a project. Combing through the 60's and 70's for smoke-fueled riffs, trippy organs, and hypnotic beats, Dream Machine is here to melt your faces off...and probably get you high. The band's debut "The Illusion" is due next month on Castle Face Records, but you should listen to "I Walked in the Fire" below right now.

It's been a little while since we last heard from experimental psych noise duo Robedoor, sonic explorers of hallucinatory murk. But lo and behold, here's a brand new album from the band available now via Hands in The Dark. "New Age Sewage" is stark and noisy, chaotic and ritual, hymns for the eternal void. Listen to "Mage Image" below.

Algiers' self-titled debut of gospel-tinged post punk was one of my favorite albums of 2015, so i'm stoked to find out that the band's follow up is due in June on Matador. "The Underside of Power" was produced by Portishead's Adrian Utley (cool!), mixed by Sunn O)))'s Randall Dunn (cool!), and features additional post production work from The Men's Ben Greenberg (cool!), and should take us all to a very soulful, haunted place. Watch the video for the title track below.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Still and forever waiting for new records from Chromatics and Glass Candy, but Johnny Jewel keeps the morphine slow dripping with hints, tastes, and other new music here and there. The latest project is HEAVEN, a dreamy and seductive new band with Jewel on the boards. Watch the video for "It's Not Enough" below...and then patiently wait for an album to materialize...or not. Keep an eye on Italians Do It Better for release info.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Here's a little spacey, jazzy cosmic acid house that's not so much anything you can dance to...or meditate to, but man is it far out and trippy. Listen to "Final Eclipse" below, and grab the "Death to the Planet" album here from the band in May.

Monday, April 24, 2017

Here's a little noisy post-punk from Germany's Rope Sect. The "Personae Ingratae" EP feels dark and cold, reverb ringing off the walls like the whole thing was recorded in a dilapidated, abandoned factory building somewhere in the German countryside. Listen to "Fallen Nation" below, download the album here, and snag a cassette from Caligari Records.

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Yesterday, i sadly missed out on procuring a copy of Ike Reiko's "You, Baby" LP, reissued for Record Store Day (and i'll be damned if i'm gonna drop $100 on one on Ebay), but every year, i inevitably end up digging on something unexpected. One release this time around comes from the always wonderful and dependable Numero Group, a collection of rare and obscure soul jams out of San Antonio called "Southwest Side Story: Vol. 19." The compilation consists of 14 grooving little nuggets that's probably going to have me heading south on a mission to find original old 45's. Listen to The Eptones' "No One Else but You" below, snag a digital copy of the album here, and venture out to a brick and mortar record store to find a physical copy.

Saturday, April 22, 2017

LA duo Midnight Sister make music that sounds like it was record in some surrealist's daydream and then broadcast across the world via old AM radio waves. New single "Leave You" is out now via Jagjaguwar. Watch the noirish video below and be on the lookout for a full-length LP later this year.

Friday, April 21, 2017

Well, tomorrow's the day: the 10th anniversary of Record Store Day, a yearly Saturday in April best known as the day where i spend way too much money. But hey, i get some bitchin records to take home...and that's important. This year is seeing the release of tons of great stuff, as per usual. And i'm trying to narrow my selections down and keep to my budget, which generally means i'll have to make some cuts while i'm at the record store tomorrow morning. But here are 5 releases i'll be searching for, and that i recommend you save a little scratch for.

Good luck.

1. David Bowie - "Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles 74)" 3LP
This one's kind of a no brainer for me, a 3 disc Bowie live album from 1974, lovingly mixed and mastered by Tony Visconti, featuring a whole slew of great songs from Bowie's earlier years. Yes! Yes! Yes!

2. John Scoggins - "Pressed for Time" LP
Rhino Records reissues a rare power pop gem from the 1970's from John Scoggins. Finding an original copy of "Pressed for Time" will set you back a few hundred bucks, so this reissue is probably the way to go. Oh, and it's fucking great.

3. Ike Reiko - "You, Baby" LP
A mix of erotic jazz, spy music, and Japanese pop, all with a quirky Serge Gainsbourg vibe, Ike Reiko's very rare "You, Baby" LP is a wonderful oddity that needs to be on my record shelf.

5. The Wipers - "Better Off Dead" 7"
Old Wipers records are pretty hard to find, and usually kind of expensive when you do, so what better way to close out you record buying bonanza tomorrow with a reissued copy of the legendary band's debut release?

So there you go. I could easily recommend a dozen more (The Bad Signs, Dennis Wilson, Nico and The Faction, etc.), but i wanted to keep it reasonable. Have fun tomorrow.

Thursday, April 20, 2017

So, after a couple of listens, i'm pretty sure Kendrick Lamar's "DAMN." will most certainly be on 100% of every year-end best-of list...oh, and that he's also probably the best rapper in the game right now. Anyway, here's the video for "DNA," starring Don Cheadle no less. Also, if you act fast and preorder the record TODAY over here, you can snag yourself a autographed copy of the record on color vinyl, an MP3 download, and a t-shirt for $40. Get on that.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

It's not all doom and gloom around here. Houston's Fat Tony just released his ode to the joys of Whataburger, and as someone who has lived in Texas for most of his life, i can't say i disagree with the man. Watch the wonderfully ridiculous video for "Drive-Thru" below, and then maybe go off that diet and grab a burger for lunch today.

Industrial duo Youth Code recently made the excellent decision to recruit Goth folk chanteuse Chelsea Wolfe to remix their 2016 track "Lost at Sea." Ms. Wolfe then made the excellent decision to recruit Deafheaven's George Clarke to provide new vocals on the track. The end result is a scorching and haunting mix of icy electronics, metal wail, and noise. I love it. And as a bonus, all the proceeds go to Planned Parenthood. Buy it here and listen below.

It looks like we're getting a new record from EMA in August, and judging by first single "Aryan Nation," it looks to be just as political and confrontational as the artist hinted at earlier this year when she claimed her label would not release it. Hopelessness. Despair. Nihilism. Anger. Anxiety. It's all there, capturing the current climate of this country, particularly the midwest and rust belt, a pot bubbling over. "Exile in The Outer Ring" may be the record to tap into the political zeitgeist like no other this year. Watch the lyric video for "Aryan Nation" below and get the record on 8/25 from City Slang.

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

I guess Colorado is as good a place as any to spawn some black metal. There's snow and mountains and wilderness...so yeah, makes sense. Doom and darkness purveyors Nightbringer just release their latest screeching ominous opus via Season of Mist, and it's a world scorcher. Grab "Terra Damnata" here and listen to album closer "Serpent Sun" below.

Monday, April 17, 2017

Shamir surprise released a new album this morning called "Hope." Kind of a rough, home-recorded indie rock record, it's a far cry from 2015's disco dance party "Ratchet" LP. I certainly wasn't expecting anything like this from the artist, and that's awesome. Keep us on our toes. Stream the whole album below and download it for free here.

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Helsinki band Black Lizard are releasing a self-titled compilation album on Austin's SpiderChild Records. The cassette pulls tracks from the band's Anton Newcombe produced debut EP, the follow-up LP and a new, unreleased jam called "Suicide and Other Drugs." It's a smoky, hazy mix of psych rock and shoegaze, a brain melting good time. Listen below and snag the cassette here.

Friday, April 14, 2017

Next month sees the release of long-running, scuzzy garage rock band Black Lips' latest opus, "Satan's Graffiti or God's Art?" on Vice. The album was produced by Sean Lennon, and while it retains the band's signature sound, there's something a little more psych-indebted going on. Listen to second single "Squatting in Heaven" below.

Miami's Jacuzzi Boys' Mag Mag Records is about to begin a flexi-disc series of releases, and the first comes from the legendary Iggy Pop. "Asshole Blues" is a scratchy, lo-fi, acoustic blues ditty about some asshole who's out to get you...and it's wonderful. Listen below. Pre-order here.

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Next month, David Byrne's Luaka Bop label will release a collection of rare songs from the late, great Alice Coltrane. The record, "World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda," features songs that the artist recorded in the early 80's while living at the Sai Anantam Ashram, a kind of meditation center, that were originally only available on cassette tapes passed around that community. These tracks feel like exploring the outer cosmos or the inner mind, looking for God, but keeping one toe firmly aground back on Earth. Listen to "Om Shanti" below.

New music is on the horizon in June from Geoff Barrow's band BEAK> "Sex Music" is a groovy, synthy little piece of krautrock, and a hint at what may be coming on a new full length. Listen below and get the 7" on Invada.

Late last year, Australian psych rock weirdos King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard announced that they would release 5 new albums in 2017. That's a tall order, and i'm not entirely convinced that they'll be able to pull it off, bu their second record of the year, "Murder of the Universe," is due in June on ATO. Judging by the album art and the first taste of music, the epic " Han-Tyumi and the Murder of the Universe," this one's going to be a monster. Listen below and pre-order here.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Johnny Jewel and Italians Do It Better announced a whole bunch of upcoming releases yesterday (though you'll notice "Dear Tommy" is still missing). One such release is the upcoming debut full length LP "Always" from synthwave act Twisted Wires. I've been a fan of the artist for several years now, based solely on a smattering of singles released here and there. Before the album comes out though, we're getting a taster sampler of sorts with the "Struck Twice" 12", featuring a couple of songs from the upcoming album and some remixes. Watch the video for "0000" below and grab the 12" later this week.

The always interesting Peaking Lights are set to release their fifth album (a double one no less), "The Fifth State of Consciousness" in June on the duo's own Two Flowers Records. Listen to the dubby, warbled disco pop of "Everytime I See the Light" below.

Sunday, April 9, 2017

When three experimental artists get together to make some music, the result is bound to be interesting. And so we have the "Why" 7" from Jac Berrocal, David Fenech, and Vincent Epplay, out later this month on Blackest Ever Black. Think of it as slam poetry as performed by a free form jazz trio playing under the guise of no wave band in some seedy club in New York in the late 70's. Listen to the title track below.

Saturday, April 8, 2017

It's Saturday, and beautiful outside here in Austin. What better time then for some gloomy, sludgy, celestial black metal to bring you back into the doom-filled void. Featuring members of Moonknight and Harassor, Dargar make funereal passages to take you to the mysterious unknown on the other side. Listen to "Cities in Ashes" below from the band's "The Shores of Space" album, out now on Rising Beast.

Friday, April 7, 2017

Listen to the wonderful and delirious new track from Melody's Echo Chamber's upcoming new album "Bon Voyage." The album's first track, "Cross My Heart" is nearly 7 minutes of cool psychedelia, kosmische aesthetic, and swirly indie pop. No word yet as to when the record will see release, or who will be distributing it, but i'll be waiting with baited breath.

Last fall, i wrote about the enormous and heart wrenching new and ongoing project from ambient artist The Caretaker, a chronicle of the artist's own early onset dementia as played out over the next couple of years titled "Everywhere at the End of Time." The second stage of the album was just released and it's just as devastating as the first. Listen to melancholy stage opener "A losing battle is raging" below, and buy it from the artist here, via History Always Favours The Winners.

Here's a new track from John Dwyer's Damaged Bug project, taken from the new LAMC split 7" series (the 17th one!). Listen to the krauty, warbly, fractured psych of "Rubber Lips" below and get the record from Famous Class. Black Pus appears on the B-side.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

It's pretty much standard operating procedure that if you put Jarvis Cocker on your song, then i'm going to pay attention to it. From her upcoming new album "Pleasure" on Interscope, Feist has collaborated on a track with the former Pulp front man on the record's second single, "Century." You'll be able to tell when he comes in. It's all very Jarvis-y. Listen below.

I've been looking forward to the debut LP from New York post punk band WALL ever since i saw them perform way back during SXSW last year. And i don't have too much longer to wait, with "Untitled" scheduled for release at the end of this month on Wharf Cat. Unfortunately, it appears that the band has called it quits, and thus the debut will also be the swan song. Bummer. Listen to the excellent "Save Me" below.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Canadian four-piece Walrus are readying their debut LP, "Family Hangover," on Madic Records for release in June. Listen to the band's wonderful, swirling mix of psychedelic guitars and synthy accoutrement on first single "In a Timely Fashion" below.

Easily one of the most entertaining bands i've ever seen on a whim during a festival, New York's Mutoid Man is everything fun heavy metal is supposed to be, an over the top onslaught of faux aggression, humor, wailing riffs, and triumphant vocals. New album "War Moans" is out in June on Sargent House. Listen to "Melt Your Mind" below.

It' been a few years since we last got any kind of proper new release from LA producer Com Truise, but his bouncy, 80's pop aping, cinematic synth arrangements are always welcome around these parts. New album "Iteration" is due in June on Ghostly International. Listen to first single "Memory" below.

Japanese experimental artist Phew has been in the game a long time, performing with everyone from Boredoms to Can, though her latest solo effort, "Light Sleep," is her first in 20 years. Drawing from acts like Suicide or Einstürzende Neubauten, there is a growing sense of existential dread just oozing from the album's six tracks. Listen to "Mata Aimasho" below and get the record from MESH-KEY.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Prolific experimental artist Jefre Cantu-Ledesma has a new album coming out on Mexican Summer in June called "On the Echoing Green." Listen to the first taste of the record, the sprawling dreamscape of "A Song of Summer" below. If it's any indication, the record should be dreamy, reverby wonder.